Reverend Nena Radtke, Bridge Minister 

Reverand Nena comes to us as a second career pastor.  This follows a career as a business director for major and boutique law firms.  Rev. Nena is an honors graduate of Andover Newton Theological School.  She comes from a long line of ordained clergy and has been active in her church communities for as long as she can remember.  The United Church of Christ and its Congregational tradition melds her Christ centeredness with a global view that we are all God's children exploring meaning and defining purpose.

Nena has a passion for working with congregations through transitional times—something she did in her corporate life.  She believes in inviting and being open to the Spirit's presence in all.

Nena was struck in interviews with the bridge search team with how much each person cared about the church, its wellbeing, and its future.

Here Nena is attracted to Pilgrim Congregational's service to the surrounding community—as well as support of national and international missions.  Nena has long served such efforts on multiple levels.  In recent years, she has served educational initiatives in rural Honduras and rural India—and at a local women's prison.

Nena is excited by Pilgrim Congregational's desire to nurture its young people in faith.  She believes that faith is not only taught but caught as young people experience God's radical love across generations.  Having raised her own children in the church, she loves working creatively with the young and the young at heart around our biblical stories and how they apply to our lives today.

Nena also welcomes the church's ongoing call to pastoral outreach and care for those going through challenging times and personal transitions.  Here church is defined by how we engage beyond our walls in supporting one another.  She believes in the power of praying with and for one another—and that burdens lighten when we can share and explore them in supportive and loving relationships. 

Nena believes in the radical welcome of all into the body of Christ and exploring and embracing ways to express this invitation in community and to those in the broader community.

On a personal note, Nena is a lifelong traveler/explorer and animal lover.  She is passionate about history and historical context of our biblical traditions—even as she believes that God's revelation is ongoing.  Nena engages in the spiritual practices of qigong, yoga and centering prayer-and can be found getting together with friends and walking her Yorkie rescue when not engaged in other activities.